UNPUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-4049

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff - Appellee,

v.

RODNEY MCGILL,

Defendant - Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, at 

Charlotte. Robert J. Conrad, Jr., District Judge. (3:19-cr-00308-RJC-DSC-3)

Submitted: March 9, 2023 Decided: June 9, 2023

Before GREGORY, Chief Judge, and NIEMEYER and DIAZ, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

ON BRIEF: D. Baker McIntyre III, Charlotte, North Carolina, for Appellant. Amy 

Elizabeth Ray, Assistant United States Attorney, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

ATTORNEY, Asheville, North Carolina, for Appellee.

Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

USCA4 Appeal: 21-4049 Doc: 21 Filed: 06/09/2023 Pg: 1 of 4
2

PER CURIAM:

Rodney McGill pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine, in 

violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(C), and possession of a firearm by a convicted 

felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). The district court sentenced McGill to 151 

months of imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. On appeal, 

McGill’s counsel has filed a brief pursuant to Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (1967), 

stating that there are no meritorious issues for appeal but questioning whether the district 

court correctly classified McGill as a career offender. Although notified of his right to do 

so, McGill has not filed a pro se supplemental brief. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

Because McGill did not object to his career offender designation before the district 

court, we review this issue for plain error. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 52(b); United States v. 

Olano, 507 U.S. 725, 731-32 (1993); United States v. Carthorne, 726 F.3d 503, 510 

(4th Cir. 2013) (applying plain error review when defendant failed to object in district court 

to whether prior offense qualified as crime of violence for career offender enhancement 

purposes). “To establish plain error, a defendant has the burden of showing: (1) that an 

error was made; (2) that the error was plain; and (3) that the error affected his substantial 

rights.” Carthorne, 726 F.3d at 510. “When a defendant has established each of the above 

elements, the decision to correct the error remains within an appellate court’s discretion, 

and . . . we will exercise that discretion only if the error would result in a miscarriage of 

justice or would otherwise seriously affect the fairness, integrity or public reputation of 

judicial proceedings.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).

USCA4 Appeal: 21-4049 Doc: 21 Filed: 06/09/2023 Pg: 2 of 4
3 

A defendant is subject to the career offender enhancement if he was at least 18 years 

old at the time he committed the instant offense of conviction; the instant offense is a felony 

that is either a crime of violence or a controlled substance offense; and “the defendant has 

at least two prior felony convictions of either a crime of violence or a controlled substance 

offense.” U.S. Sentencing Guidelines Manual § 4B1.1(a) (2018). A “prior felony 

conviction” means “a prior adult federal or state conviction for an offense punishable by 

death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year.” USSG § 4B1.2 cmt. n.1. A 

controlled substance offense is any federal or state offense that prohibits “the possession 

of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) with intent to manufacture, import, 

export, distribute, or dispense.” USSG § 4B1.2(b). A crime of violence is any offense that 

(1) “has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against 

the person of another,” or (2) “is murder, voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, aggravated 

assault, a forcible sex offense, robbery, arson, extortion, or the use or unlawful possession 

of a firearm described in 26 U.S.C. § 5845(a) or explosive material as defined in 18 U.S.C. 

§ 841(c).” USSG § 4B1.2(a). 

The record establishes that McGill was over 18 years old at the time he committed 

the instant controlled substance offense. Moreover, McGill has at least two prior 

convictions that qualify as predicate felonies. We therefore conclude that the district court 

did not plainly err in applying the career offender sentencing enhancement. 

In accordance with Anders, we have reviewed the entire record and have found no 

other meritorious grounds for appeal. Accordingly, we affirm McGill’s conviction and 

sentence. This court requires that counsel inform McGill, in writing, of the right to petition 

USCA4 Appeal: 21-4049 Doc: 21 Filed: 06/09/2023 Pg: 3 of 4
4 

the Supreme Court of the United States for further review. If McGill requests that a petition 

be filed, but counsel believes that such a petition would be frivolous, then counsel may 

move in this court for leave to withdraw from representation. Counsel’s motion must state 

a copy thereof was served on McGill. 

We dispense with oral argument because the facts and legal contentions are 

adequately presented in the materials before this court and argument would not aid the 

decisional process. 

AFFIRMED 

USCA4 Appeal: 21-4049 Doc: 21 Filed: 06/09/2023 Pg: 4 of 4